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Mi Terro using food waste for plastic and fibers

US biotechnology company Mi Terro is the world's only biotechnology company that upcycles and re-engineers protein food waste into plastic for packaging, and cotton alternative fibers for the fashion, medical, and packaging industries.

The company’s CEO and founder, Robert Luo, told DairyReporter the company is currently upcycling dairy products, but the technology can potentially apply to any type of protein-based food waste, including plant-based food waste.

“We developed a patent-pending technology called "Pro-Act"(Protein Activation) to extract milk protein molecules from the bacterial grown expired, spoiled, and bad milk from sick cows,”​ Luo explained.

“We then use another patent-pending technology called "Sea-Re" (self-assembly purification) to purify the bacterial-grown milk protein into good milk protein. Once we have the purified milk protein, we then integrate a new technique called DFS (dynamic flow shear spinning). This technique uses the wet-spinning process to spin the milk protein into biodegradable fibers.”

Luo said the technology can potentially apply to any type of protein-based food waste, including plant-based food waste.

He added that sustainability is very important to the company.

“We are replacing petroleum-based materials with protein-based materials made from food waste. We are redefining the circular economy in which everything begins with food waste and ends as compostable or biodegradable.